Why do we tell stories?
Old Mrs. Evans strolled slowly down the dusk beach, the sand squeaking between her toes. The walk gave her some difficulty due to the knee problems which come with old age, but she did not mind. She had no desire to be anywhere but before the beautiful pinks, oranges, and reds streaking across the horizon over the sea. With each step the wet sand absorbed a part of her heels and toes before she lifted them out and took the next. The dance she played with the quicksand reminded her of another time, long ago. It was her first trip with her then wonderful new husband, Arthur. They couldn't have asked for a better honeymoon than one on the beautiful island of Aruba. The island's notoriously high winds had slowed to a cool breeze just for their vacation and the sun never stopped shining. Mrs Evans recalled the stroll they took on the beach every evening, and how Arthur would pretend to get himself stuck in the wet sand and playfully wail, "Oh my Marla save me!" Mrs Evans would laugh and lend him a hand, only for Arthur to yank her down with him. They would roll around in the sand laughing and adoring each other's love until the sun set. A single tear rolled down Mrs. Evans lone face as she recalled the old memory, somberly continuing alone down the shoreline. Then a high call came from behind her, "Grandma!" Mrs Evans stopped and put in the effort to slowly turn around. Her young granddaughter Sohpie came skipping along and nearly ran into Mrs Evans in her excitement. "Hello!" she chirped, "Can I go for a walk too?" Her enthusiasm was bigger than her little 6-year old body. "Why of course you can" Mrs Evans sweetly replied. As Mrs Evans walked with Sophie prancing around her, she chimed "let me tell you a story." "A story!" Sophie beamed. Mrs. Evans told her granddaughter all about the sweet time she spent with Sophie's grandfather whom she never knew, and Sophie listened with keen interest. She laughed at the games he used to play and imitated him. She even slowed to her grandmother's slow pace to hear the story clearly and not miss a bit. By the tale's end, Mrs Evan's tears had all dried and she felt content. Sophie, inspired by her grandmother's story, piped "I can't wait to be a grandma so I can spend time with a grandpa just like you!" Mrs Evans and her heart laughed as she embraced her granddaughter in a long hug. She smiled at ease, embracing all of the beauty in the world.
In the short story above, Mr Evans turned to a story. Mrs. Evans put herself at ease by sharing the story of her late husband, because that's what stories do: bring contentment to our world. Like Mrs Evans, our minds are filled with emotions and stories. We cope with these emotions by verbalizing them into tales. Stories, however, do more than bring contentment. As Andrew Stanton claims, "we're born for them [stories]." Every individual is a walking story in the making, and we are human because we can share these stories. To bring to life a story is to bring to life a person, "real or imagined" (Stanton). Mrs Evans' story brought to life Mr Evans. Sophie could enjoy the company of Mr Evans despite his passing. Sophie enjoyed hearing the story almost as much as Mrs Evans enjoyed telling it; stories bring people together. Sophie related her Grandmother's tale to herself, and relished in the emotions of it. We are born for stories because they not only touch our mind's deepest emotions on a personal level; stories complete them. To Sophie, Mrs Evan's story touched one of every child's deepest emotions: imagination. The story gave her imagination direction, as Sophie pictured herself enjoying time with someone like the Mr Evans her grandmother described. To Mrs. Evans, the story touched her deep-rooted sadness and directed it into contentment, reminding her of all the wonderful times she can look back on and share with others through story. Mrs Evans' tale also brought Sophie and Mrs Evans together. Even though the story meant something different to each of them, they rode the roller coaster of emotion together. In the end, they could embrace because they both felt more content with each other than before the tale. We tell stories because they tie people together by bringing sparking and completing our deepest emotions.
Old Mrs. Evans strolled slowly down the dusk beach, the sand squeaking between her toes. The walk gave her some difficulty due to the knee problems which come with old age, but she did not mind. She had no desire to be anywhere but before the beautiful pinks, oranges, and reds streaking across the horizon over the sea. With each step the wet sand absorbed a part of her heels and toes before she lifted them out and took the next. The dance she played with the quicksand reminded her of another time, long ago. It was her first trip with her then wonderful new husband, Arthur. They couldn't have asked for a better honeymoon than one on the beautiful island of Aruba. The island's notoriously high winds had slowed to a cool breeze just for their vacation and the sun never stopped shining. Mrs Evans recalled the stroll they took on the beach every evening, and how Arthur would pretend to get himself stuck in the wet sand and playfully wail, "Oh my Marla save me!" Mrs Evans would laugh and lend him a hand, only for Arthur to yank her down with him. They would roll around in the sand laughing and adoring each other's love until the sun set. A single tear rolled down Mrs. Evans lone face as she recalled the old memory, somberly continuing alone down the shoreline. Then a high call came from behind her, "Grandma!" Mrs Evans stopped and put in the effort to slowly turn around. Her young granddaughter Sohpie came skipping along and nearly ran into Mrs Evans in her excitement. "Hello!" she chirped, "Can I go for a walk too?" Her enthusiasm was bigger than her little 6-year old body. "Why of course you can" Mrs Evans sweetly replied. As Mrs Evans walked with Sophie prancing around her, she chimed "let me tell you a story." "A story!" Sophie beamed. Mrs. Evans told her granddaughter all about the sweet time she spent with Sophie's grandfather whom she never knew, and Sophie listened with keen interest. She laughed at the games he used to play and imitated him. She even slowed to her grandmother's slow pace to hear the story clearly and not miss a bit. By the tale's end, Mrs Evan's tears had all dried and she felt content. Sophie, inspired by her grandmother's story, piped "I can't wait to be a grandma so I can spend time with a grandpa just like you!" Mrs Evans and her heart laughed as she embraced her granddaughter in a long hug. She smiled at ease, embracing all of the beauty in the world.
In the short story above, Mr Evans turned to a story. Mrs. Evans put herself at ease by sharing the story of her late husband, because that's what stories do: bring contentment to our world. Like Mrs Evans, our minds are filled with emotions and stories. We cope with these emotions by verbalizing them into tales. Stories, however, do more than bring contentment. As Andrew Stanton claims, "we're born for them [stories]." Every individual is a walking story in the making, and we are human because we can share these stories. To bring to life a story is to bring to life a person, "real or imagined" (Stanton). Mrs Evans' story brought to life Mr Evans. Sophie could enjoy the company of Mr Evans despite his passing. Sophie enjoyed hearing the story almost as much as Mrs Evans enjoyed telling it; stories bring people together. Sophie related her Grandmother's tale to herself, and relished in the emotions of it. We are born for stories because they not only touch our mind's deepest emotions on a personal level; stories complete them. To Sophie, Mrs Evan's story touched one of every child's deepest emotions: imagination. The story gave her imagination direction, as Sophie pictured herself enjoying time with someone like the Mr Evans her grandmother described. To Mrs. Evans, the story touched her deep-rooted sadness and directed it into contentment, reminding her of all the wonderful times she can look back on and share with others through story. Mrs Evans' tale also brought Sophie and Mrs Evans together. Even though the story meant something different to each of them, they rode the roller coaster of emotion together. In the end, they could embrace because they both felt more content with each other than before the tale. We tell stories because they tie people together by bringing sparking and completing our deepest emotions.
*The dialogue in the background of the video created by Google Inc. comes from this TED talk by Andrew Stanton